#Exhibit of the Month

The Roman bronze situla comes from a collection of archaeological artifacts confiscated at customs and transferred to the holdings of the National Museum of History of Moldova in 2009. Its place of discovery remains unknown.

A situla (Latin for "bucket") is a metal vessel-usually made of bronze-shaped like a pail and equipped with two movable handles at the top, traditionally used for mixing wine with water. The handles are attached to the vessel via two decorated ears that are welded to the rim.

The body of the situla is truncated-conical in shape and features two decorative bands with small circular patterns formed by hammering, located just below the rim.

Its base is double-layered: the inner bottom is hemispherical and hammered, while the outer bottom is flat and lathe-made. The outer base is welded to the inner bottom, serving as the vessel's foot-support.

This object was crafted using a combination of casting, hammering, and partial lathe-finishing. Dimensions: Maximum height - 31.7 cm; Maximum diameter - 22.8 cm; Base diameter - 13.5 cm

Situlae of this type originated in the Roman Empire and were later adopted by various ancient peoples, including those from the northwestern Pontic region.

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Scientific Conference “1940 in the History of Lithuania and Bessarabia: Historical and Memorial Perspectives”

June 24, 2025

National Museum of History of Moldova

The National Museum of History of Moldova, in cooperation with the Institute of History of the Moldova State University and the Genocide and Resistance Research Center of Lithuania, organizes on June 24, 2025 the scientific conference "1940 in the History of Lithuania and Bessarabia: Historical and Memorial Perspectives".

The event is organized on the 85th anniversary of the annexation of Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and the Herța Land to the USSR (June 28, 1940) in result of the Hitler-Stalin pact - a dramatic rupture in the history of the Romanian space, with profound political, social and cultural consequences.

During the conference, researchers from the Republic of Moldova and the Republic of Lithuania will address the events of 1940 from a historical and memorial perspective, highlighting the geopolitical context of the period, the reflection in the sources of the epoch and collective memory, the atrocities and historical traumas generated by the Soviet occupation regime.

The scientific reunion is open to the interested public, especially academics, researchers, museologists, history teachers, but also young scholars passionate about contemporary history.

The event is organized within the project "Partnership for Strengthening Societal Resilience through the Promotion of Democratic Values and the Dissemination of Historical Knowledge: Exchange of Experience and Application of Best Practices Between the Academic Community and Civil Society Organizations from Lithuania and Moldova", with the support of the Development Cooperation and Democracy Promotion Programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania and in cooperation with the Hanns Seidel Foundation - Republic of Moldova.